Blog Post Pageant (part dos)

Here we are, guys. It's time for part dos of our Blog Post Pageant. For those of you who were spared part one, make sure to check it out sometime before you leave this earth. Or sooner if at all possible.

Jesse did the honors of writing this post. I laughed until tears rolled down my face when I first read it. He really is the funniest person I have ever met. His sense of humor is probably his sexiest attribute (to me). It's a bit of a dry sense of humor (versus my corny con corny style), and my guess is that most of you won't get all of his joke (it's OK, I don't always either). But for those of you who do...well then you'll enjoy the following bit of randomocity.

So here he is. My husband's take on July-December. Enjoy!

Hi, I'm Jesse - you may have heard of me. I have been contracted to write this post with the promise of being presented with Eggs Erroneous for breakfast this morning (you're welcome to the 2 people that laughed at that). The blogging begins:


Rumor on the street is that Lauren has been writing a year in review for all of her loyal Blog-Minions (look it up, I dare y'all) to follow. It's been quite a while since I've done this, so please forgive me if I'm as rusty as an anchor aboard the Edmund Fitzgerald. 


"All is quiet on New Year's Eve...."  Depeche Mode - 1947

Ehhh, close enough.

Okay so maybe the lyrics were incorrect along with the band and year, but you get the point. Today is indeed the eve of our upcoming year. And according to the Mayans - our last. So what better way to celebrate the entirety of our human experience than doing a year in review for a blog written by two random people that hail from America's Icebox. 

Jerks - 1000 BC

We will begin our journey in July 2011 (Side note - did you know that Augustus renamed this month July to honor his homeboy Julius Caesar? Whaddup wif dat?). July, as many of you may be aware, was one month before Lauren and I jumped the broom. As y'all could imagine there was plenty going on during this time.


Dr. Blogzilla's Hype Blog of the Month for July: "What Wedding?? Weekend"
In this blog, Lauren attempts to make herself believe that the wedding is not imminent. By doing this she actually stopped thinking about the wedding for 7 minutes that weekend as opposed to 3 minutes for a normal weekend around that time. I probably wasn't any better, so I really shouldn't talk.


DBHBOTM (Dr. Blogzilla's Hype Blog of the Month will hereby be referred to as DBHBOTM from this point forward) Rusty Medal Award for July: "Belly up to our bar!"
Here we detail our alcohol disbursement setup for the upcoming wedding. Many of our guests didn't know what time to even show up to the wedding, but they were well aware of this "open bar" concept. Interesting. 




DBHBOTM for August: "Hitched"
Detailing the day that changed what Lauren and I are for the rest of our lives. Pretty cool, once in a lifetime stuff here.


DBHBOTM Rusty Medal Award for August: "N/A"
There was no other blog written during this month. Please spare us with only 15 lashes instead of 20?

"No, no I swear that was only 12."

DBHBOTM for September: "A Big Fat Blog Birthday"
This blog celebrates our dodging the FCC's Standards and Practices Act for 1 full year. They are still gathering information to take us down. 


DBHBOTM Rusty Medal Award for September: "Mr. Jerle speaks"
This was a small "slice of life" sample written by yours truly about the extreme infancy of our marriage at that time. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll petition to have 4 minutes of your life returned to you.




DBHBOTM for October: "Wild on Wednesday 1.0"
The birthplace of Lauren's idea to add a little wackiness and Louie Anderson-esque humor to our Wednesdays. This reminds me of an idea I once had in college where instead of cracking open a Budweiser at 9 PM on a Wednesday, we would start with a Milwaukee's Beast at 8:30 PM. Simpler times. 

A buddy of mine once saidhe saw Louie 
gambling at  Mystic Lake Casino and he looked 
like death warmed over. I do not  believe such lies.

DBHBOTM Rusty Medal Award for October: "Female Weird Al"
In this blog, Lauren attempts to usurp a man who's face will be chiseled into the granite of South Dakota someday. This man is "Weird" Al Yankovic. 

"Can't wait until Al gets here son!"

DBHBOTM for November: "That post about Pinterest"
Here Lauren explains her introduction into the world of Pinterest. I still have no idea what this is, but I have no reason to believe this is not a cult. I am expecting a sweatsuit, white shoes and a recipe for Cyanide Kool-Aid to arrive in the mail any day now. 


DBHBOTM Rusty Medal Award for November: "WOW us"
This blog is a follow up to remind the free world of the upcoming Wild on Wednesday. On a completely unrelated note, does anybody realize that Aaron Rodgers is one mere concussion away from making the Packers as worthless as the Vikings? How fantastic would that be?

Too bad, so sad!

DBHBOTM for December: "Button!"
I have a more personal connection to this one because I was around when Lauren was cussing more than a seasoned Drill Sergent while trying to get a button on the blog. I'm still not sure what the button stuff actually means, but it sounds important.


DBHBOTM Rusty Medal Award for December: "Gungle Go"
Nuff said.


Gracias for coming along on the blog journey for the year 2011 AD. Let's hope that 2012 can be equally as mint.

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Blog Post Pageant (part dos)

Blog Post Pageant (part one)

It's that time, folks. We're recrapping and recapping all of 2011 for ya. Are ya ready??

I was going link up one post from each month. But I can't narrow it down. So I won't. Tonight's blog is going all beauty pageant on your butt. There will be a Miss Blogista (or a Mr. Blogister if it was a post Jesse wrote--remember when he blogged?), and a first runner-up. And you better click on all of these posts because this took me forever. And because there will be a quiz later. Please have your number two pencils handy once the blog reading commences.

Speaking of pageants. I bet most of you didn't know I actually was the winner of one back in the day. I am actually one for one when it comes to pageantry. PS: I have only been in one.

I know none of you are buying that it's really me in the picture above. But I promise it is. The year was 2001. Meg Ryan haircuts were all the rage (or in my case, a bout of defiance against my mother who loved my long hair). And my waistline was, in a word, breathtaking (oh, what I wouldn't give....). Minutes after this picture was snapped I was lined up with a few my fellow Dodge Center-ites for the annual Kiss The Pig contest. Our pictures had been on cups throughout various businesses in town, and whoever's cup had the most cash money in it by the time the pageant took place, was the lucky recipient of a live piggy kiss. You can't make this stuff up, people.

Where were we? Oh yeah. Our Big Fat Farm Wedding/Our Crazy Ever After blog post pageant time.

January

Miss Blogista--Matt Damon's Mustachio: Jesse grows a mustache. I think it's gross and pervy, and call it The Mustachio. Click on this post, and you will also be met with the manliest picture of Jesse holding Apple. For cute.
First runner-up--She's Gone Country!: This is a post where I introduce our blog readers to the farm where our nuptials will be taking place. A place I used to loathe, but now love. Go figure.

The creepy dude with the less-than-hot creepy mustachio

February

Miss Blogista--Guest Blogger: Asian Invasion: This is where I introduce my blog readers to Jaime. She started a blog soon after we did, only so she could make fun of me. She is my cousins' best friend, so naturally the name of her blog is My Best Friend's Cousin's Wedding. She thinks she is comedic genius. I'll give her that. She is pretty funny, and Jesse often gets annoyed with me for texting her late at night, and laughing hysterically throughout our textversations.
First Runner-Up--My Funny Valentine: This is where Jesse and I share the writing reigns, and regale tales of our Valentines Day adventures. It was a fun day, and definitely one of my favorite memories of the year. This blog post also got a comment from the owner of my favorite Mexican restaurant in Minneapolis. Swoon. I felt famous by relation. For like five minutes.

March

Mr. Blogister--Jesse Four Years Ago: Jesse wrote a post about what his life was like before his blushing bride. It's probably one of my favorites because it's so funny (to me at least). He talks about a job that was only slightly better than selling plasma, or pan handling with a fake two foot beard. The last line says it all quite sarcastically/nicely:  "Ah, but those days were not meant to last, and for good reason. Slowly but surely the boys were led to domestication by evil sirens their wonderful ladies.  Just kidding, just kidding, they all really are cool chicks. And a couple of years later, I found my own cool chick. And her little dogs too."
First Runner-Up--Lenore!: Jesse and I happen upon a dog rescue mission whilst on our way home from his parent's house. It may be one of those had-to-be-there kind of moments, but I still had to share it (then, and again now). I also love my blog friend, Amanda's comment (she commented on my blog before anyone ever did, so that gives her automatic awesome status), where she tells a story about a similar rescue operation of her own. Go read it. I promise both stories have a happy ending.

April

Miss Blogista--Just A Spoonful of Sugar: I love what I do for a living (most of the time anyway). This is where I tell you how I got into nannying, and why I lurv it so dang much.
First Runner-Up--No Lion It's That Good: This is the post about when I blindfold my not-quite-husband (not as kinky as it sounds, promise) and surprise him with dinner at his absolute all time favorite burger joint in the burbs. Wait. We were still living in the burbs then (gross). This was a fun adventure. Not often am I able to make this man smile as much as I did on this particular Monday. A good burger will do that to a guy.

Ever been blind folded by an Old Navy sweatshirt and taken to your favorite
restaurant??? Jesse has. 

May

Miss Blogista--Wedding Inspiration: My wedding coordinator was a rock star and hooked us up with these delicious and awesome images as inspiration for our wedding. They were all things we had come up with together, and she put it all together. Our wedding was similar to this, but with our own special twist to it. So it was pretty much perfect, OK!? OK.
First Runner-Up--Blogger Meet-up!: So this one should actually be Miss Blogista too because it was such a neat and fulfilling experience. This was when I met Carla from Hammers and High Heels. We met through blogging, and connected in real life after a tornado swept through Minneapolis. Carla's home was hit by the tornado, but that didn't stop her from joining us as we volunteered to help other tornado victims. Awesome experience seeing NOMI (North Minneapolis) come together like this. It made me proud to live here. Oh, and I also talk about Kim Kardashian trying to steal my wedding limelight by planning her wedding during MY wedding summer. The nerve, right??

June

Miss Blogista--The Dirty Thirty: My hot hunka hunka burnin' love turned the big 3-0! And he was a real trooper and spent the entire weekend down on the farm, slaving away as we prepared for our wedding. It's OK, though. He got a huge surprise birthday party thrown for him the next weekend. I didn't blog about it, but I promise it happened.
First Runner-Up--Sixteen Year Old Lauren: I get a little sappy and reminiscent in this post. And complain about the cost of a marriage license in Minnesota. And I may or may not share a journal exert from when I was a dramatic teenager. A must read for sure!

Dirty thirty: farm edition

So there you have it. We're halfway through our blog post pageant. How about you?!? Are you doing an end of year recap/recrap?? Tell me about it in the comment section below, and I will make sure to leave a link in a future post!

Also, feel free to link up your year in review post with Silver Lining. She's a sweetie, and this is her very first linky party. Do it!






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Blog Post Pageant (part one)

My largest organ is itchy!

I don't know about you, but I have some of the smartest Facebook friends ever (or so they think).

I have been having a bit of an issue with dry skin as of lates. Winter in Minnesota definitely takes a toll on my body's largest organ. In an effort to cure my itchy skin, I brought it to the Facebook streets this morning, and have been getting a few good tips. But being the demanding extremist that I am, I am not jut satisfied with a few suggestions. I want more, gosh damnit. That's where you all come in, blog readers. I want to hear what you do to keep yourself from scratching your skin off.

So far we have determined that winter (with or without snow--my Minne is currently sans snow) can play a cruel joke on our bodies. He's all (in the Honey Badger voice) "Hey guys, I am here with my frigid temps and stuff. But don't try to warm yourselves with long, hot shower and baths or anything, cuz I will totally make you suffer for it...cuz I am a huge jerk face with no life." And it's then that I like to tell winter to suck it. I know. Not very polite of me. But it's true. I can't help it. My manners go out the door when you mess with my skin.

The floor (comment section below) is now open. Tell me how you fight the winter itchiness! And don't make me Google this. We all know Google is a bed of lies. ◦

My largest organ is itchy!

BUTTON!

I have a button, I have a button. 
I have a button, hey, hey, HEY!

Now grab it (if you want).

Seriously though, you guys. This pesky button took me forevahhh to figure out. A special thanks to Ashley for helping me create it (almost a month ago), and Gwen for being a doll and talking me off the proverbial blog cliff tonight, when I thought I wouldn't ever figure out the HTML coding. If only you, dear readers, could be privy to the emails we just exchanged this evening. But you'll never see them. I would hate for you to think I was fresh off the crazy train. (my husband could and probably will confirm that I am if you ask, so please don't)

Oh and not sure why the box is off centered. But I really don't care. I am so over blogging for the night.

Next up? Centering that header! Any thoughts, wise blogger buds?

PS-Grab my button, yo!

<a href="http://jesseandlauren.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h331/lojerle/button.png" alt="Our Crazy Ever After" width="125" height="125" /></a>

(whisper voice) follow us on Twitter, @crazy_everafter

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BUTTON!

WOW: Picture This! (sorta) 2011

Remember this post, this post, aaaand this post? Those three (debatable) works of art were my "Picture This!" year in review posts for 2010, riddled with crappy Crackberry mobile uploads taken throughout the year. Call me a narcissistic (I can never spell that word) over sharer if ya want (I'll own it), but I just love that I have this stuff to look back on. It brings a smile to this ol' lady's face. I am probably going to keep blogging until they cut off my fingers. Which interestingly enough has happened to me before, but thanks to having the world renowned Mayo Clinic in my backyard, they were able to reattach them. Remind me to tell you about it sometime, OK? I promise it's not fabricated in the least.

So yeah. Where was I?

I wanted to do some more "Picture This!" posts for 2011, but have decided that instead I will just link a few of my favorite posts of this last year. OK. And maybe a few pictures too. Sound like a fair deal? You should do it too, and then tell me all about it. I promise I will swing by and read every single one of them. It will be fun. It will be like a progressive dinner that we all get to be a part of, but instead of snarfin' down chow at every house (blog) we stop off at, we will leave comments. Nice comments. It will be fun and stuff. I plan on posting mine on Friday, so this gives you two days. Alls I ask is that you let me know you're playing along, OK? Ready, get set...blog, baby, blog!

Oh and I know I left some of you hanging with my and Jesse's 25 Days Of ADVENTures. I am sorry to those of you who lost sleep over not getting a final recap from me. Long story short: We sorta, kinda didn't finish our list completely. Are any of you really that surprised? But we crossed off a fair share of them, and have hopes to do the rest of them in the coming few weeks or so. Here's the list.

Write a letter to each other.

Make Fat Linda Bars (our "wedding cake"/my mom's world famous bars).

Make puppy treats (recipe here).

Make something new or different for dinner, but doing it together (no Totino's pizza rolls!).

Pick out a holiday movie on Netflix to watch together (Love Actually? Yes, please!).

An ornament exchange.

Volunteer with Safe Hands Pet Rescue that day, or plan for another day in the near future.

A silly present from AxMan that reminds you of the other person (we love AxMan).

Winter walk with puppies around Theodore Wirth Parkway.

A random act of kindness toward someone you don't know.

A surprise!

Working out together (we better do this more than once next month-yikes!)

Ice skating (Jesse told me he'd take me since our first date--about dang time!)

Make a snow angel.

New winter apparel--new socks, mittens, hat, etc.

Share half price aps at Applebee's and play Bargo.

Frame a silly picture.

Write about a Christmas memory.

Try a new beer at your favorite bar.

Get soggy nachos from the Muddy Pig.

Go look at Christmas lights together.

Go Christmas shopping.

Write a letter to Santa.

Play Scrabble.

Play Yahtzee.

PS: Go wish my bloggy gal pal, Amanda a belated birthday (if you haven't already), and then stop on over to see Mrs. Robinson (does anyone else sing that song in a British accent or is just me?) to wish her a happy day of birth as well.  

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WOW: Picture This! (sorta) 2011

Halloween + Christmas = ???

Before I begin to ramble incessantly, will someone go over there and click "Follow" on my blog? It's been stuck at 69 for a few days now, and I am a total pervert, and don't want to think about that every time I see it. This blogger would be much obliged. 

So I don't think I am ready to dump the 'ol Christmas tree quite yet. I sorta like it. And goodbyes have always been hard for me. So I am going to leave it up. For now anyway.

I just took this picture before going downstairs to snuggle in my bed, and write this blog post.
Ask me how much I care that it's blurry? Notthatmuchatall.

But I learned a valuable lesson this holiday season, and I will not (I repeat, WILL NOT) let the tree stick around as long as we let the Halloween pumpkins kick it with us. I kinda, sorta just threw those little guys away on Sunday. And maybe (not for definitely) we held onto them a bit too long. But again, like I mentioned prior, goodbyes are hard for me. Quit the judging.

I don't know why it didn't dawn on me that they'd rot. I guess I was just too taken by their majestic fall beauty, and couldn't bring myself to chuck 'em. But that all changed on Sunday. I picked up one of them and the stem broke off in a mushy sorta way. "Hmmm", I thought, "that's odd". Why would a stem fall off a pumpkin that's been in our house for over two months??? What???!? They're rotting??! Well wouldn't ya know it, they sure as heck were (go figure, right?). But at first, in a fit of denial, I seriously thought Bobo left me a soupy poopy present under the tree. Which is not too far fetched sadly (naughty Bobo). Yes, when I put the tree up I relocated the pumpkins to the base of the tree. I wanted the two happy holidays to make nice with each other. And they did (you gotta admit, those fall colors look quite pretty under the tree like that, no?). Until Christmas Day. That's when the poopy pumpkins decided to rot. And it was gross. They went straight to the garbage, and I Cloroxed the crap out of the floor. Blech. And then somewhere in there I lost my car keys. I am not sure when. I might have blacked out for a while there. But I eventually found them (the next morning). Submerged in pumpkin guts out in the trash. 


Moral of this story? 


The tree needs to come down before Valentines Day. I have learned my lesson. Holidays don't intermingle. It's just not right. 

Oh crap. I just forgot that New Year's comes before Valentines Day. I better get rid of the tree this weekend before it finds a way to reek havoc on my life. 

When do you take your tree and other holiday decor down? Are they all down already? I am giving you a virtual high five if so. 

PS-I traded the Kindle Fire (that I never technically had in my possession since it was on back order) for an iPhone yesterday. And I am pretty much, completely, over-the-moon happy about this swaperoo. Yep. I always made fun of Apple minions, but I think I am slowly becoming one. My favorite ap thus far is definitely instagr.am. Lurv. Here is one of my latest uploads on the funky photo site. 

Why yes, that is me rockin' Crocs and socks. What of it? 

Do you have instagr.am?? Find me and follow me! @lojerle. And while you're at it follow me on the Twitter too. @crazy_everafter. Apple has their minions. I can have mine too, right? 

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Halloween + Christmas = ???

6am Day After Christmas...

Did you guys have a good Christmas? Didya, didya??

Mine was alright. As most of you know, this was mine and Jesse's first as Mr. and Mrs. I don't like to dwell on the negative, but I had a few disappointments come Christmas Day. Not in the gift department. I made out like a fat rat there (I got a Kindle Fire--well sorta, it's kinda on back order right now). There were just some other, less than stellar family related things. I hate how everyone thought my family was so picture perfect growing up. Oh, she's a Cooper. Coopers have it easy. And I did. For the most part. I was super blessed, and don't have many complaints. But I am here to bust the myth. My family is bat crap crazy (myself included). We all have our struggles, right? Make sure to remember that when you think everyone else has it better than you. No one's life is perfect, mmkay? I think Christmas only highlights the imperfections. That's one of the major reason why I blog. I want to keep it real. I flip out on my husband. I have epic arguments with my sister. Sometimes I don't like my job. It's most certainly not all puppies and candy canes around here (a shiny nickel for anyone who can name the movie I semi-referenced there). But I try to remain thankful. And I strive to be a better me everyday. This is my perfectly imperfect life. Love it or leave it.

But enough with me being a negative Nancy. Life and how you live it is a choice. I am choosing not to focus on the negative aspects of mine. What about you?

Here are some awesome-sweet-ass-awesome (yes, that's a double awesome) things that have happened to our blog this past week. That's right. Suck it, negativity. Positive Polly is all up in here now.

Crazy Ever After was featured Mad Libbin' with Gwensta from The Bold Abode, and then once again the following day when I took over Whiskey Tango Foxtrot for the day (I talked about Christmas traditions as a newlywed). And if that wasn't enough, I woke up on Christmas morning to find out that the guest blog I wrote about our wedding was featured on the Midwest wedding blog, A Northwoods Wedding. I don't play favorites, but if I did this post may have been my favorite. It has taken me forever to write about our wedding. Whether you blog or not, I encourage every bride to write about her wedding. And try to do it soon after the nuptials so everything is fresh in your memory. I was on emotion overload during our wedding, and it seems like everything went by in a blur. But I am so happy that I finally have a few memories recorded so I can share them later with our children (along with our pictures too of course). I hope I raise story kids. You know what I am talking about? "Hey mom, tell me that story again about that one time you..." I used to do that all the time as a kid. I hope my kids do too.

The only thing I am a little bummed about is that ANW didn't link up our amazing event coordinator, and florist. So without further ado, let it be known that Naura Anderson of Above and Beyond Design, and Amber Poznik of Poznik Floral are two of THEE greatest up and coming design stars in the wedding industry. Both are getting their businesses off the ground, and I couldn't have been more pleased with how they came though for us this past summer. It's true that you don't need a coordinator or a florist to start a marriage, but they sure do come in handy when wanting to pull off a marriage celebration that includes 300+ of your family and friends. We couldn't have done any of it without either of you. If you're in the Minnesota area, please consider using them for your floral and event coordinating needs. You will NOT be disappointed. Promise.

In other blog news, I heard back from a good handful of you regarding my De-Clutter The Crap Initiative that I'd like to kick off in the new year. I want to hear from those of you interested in partaking in this new year clean sweep. What do you do to keep order in your home? Are you a hoarder or a purger? Do you have plans for making your new year a bit more organized? I am a hoarder. But yesterday I kicked the clutter out of my living room, with the help of my trusty sidekick, the infamous anti-hoarding husband. I was even a super-genius and threw my car keys away. I recovered them only after digging through my outside garbage this morning. Please use your imagination to determine how awesome that was because I can't bring myself to go into details. I think I am scarred for life. Seriously.

Please shoot me an email (lojerle@gmail.com) or leave me a comment if you plan on writing a post about how you keep order (or plan to keep order) in your life, home, and everything in between. I'd love to feature your ideas. If not for anyone else, then at least for me. I need all the encouragement that I can get, so whatever ideas you have, I am all ears. And so is Bobo.

Sorry. I know I have used that joke three times now, but how can you not make that joke over, and over, and over again when you're dealing with ears this cute?? ◦

6am Day After Christmas...

Merry Christmas!

I don't have any festive pics of us from this year, but here is our Christmas card from two years ago. Sorry for the lack of a Bobo. Word has it he was wandering the mean streets of St. Paul, MN at the time this picture was snapped, and wouldn't be making grand entrance into our lives until a few months later.

We had been dating for only like five minutes ten months when this picture was taken. I was clearly super confident in the longevity of our relationship because I sent this picture out as our Christmas card. Kudos to my then boyfriend, who went along with it, even though inside I am sure he was thinking, "What the crap? Apparently ten months equates sending out a Christmas greetings to the masses. I guess this one thinks she's not going anywhere for a while" And I wasn't. And I haven't. 

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year. We got married (in case you didn't hear), and we were a bit delayed in getting out our thank yous, thus I felt the thank yous could double as our holiday greeting. You all know I love a two-fer. 

So Merry Christmas to one and all. I hope this finds you doing well. We're happy to be alive, and happy for Target. Even though our landlord is going to be mighty peeved when he learns that we spent January's rent at Target over the last three days. 

Oh, and one more thing. Just because I like to keep it real, and show you all what a giant spazzzzz I am. We're making dinner for Jesse's parents and nephew tonight. I am doing a chicken parm dish. Last night Jesse was a dear, and put away the groceries (after our 38th trip to Target this week). And he put the chicken in the freezer (in his defense, that's usually where we keep it). IN THE FREEEEEEZER! Suffice it to say, I flipped my lid when I just found it in the freezer, rock hard, and frozen. I needed it thawed for the meal.The meal that I am about to prepare in five minutes. But this is where it gets good. Jesse didn't say anything (he should have told me to go jump off a cliff for having such a hissy fit over something as silly as chicken), but rather ran to the corner store down the street, and came back with new, thawed out chicken for me. He's the best. I on the other hand am not grace under fire. Thank the good Lord above for husbands who remain calm, and corner stores with ridiculously priced (and organic) chicken. 

Merry Christmas my bloggy beauties! 

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Merry Christmas!

Pinterest is ruining your marriage

Sometimes I like to make predictions. Here is my prediction for something that is going to happen in the very, not-so-distant future.

All of my female blog friends and Facebook friends are going to leave their husbands or signifcant others.

Sad.

But wait. It gets better.

I am sure most of you are wondering, "Um, Lauren, that's terrible. Most of us are newlyweds, in the throes of marital bliss. How can can it get better?"

Just wait. I promise it does.

You are all going to leave your loves for....

Pinterest.

There will clearly be enough to go around. And you will all be happy, little, submissive Pinterest sister wives. And you'll probably get your own show on TLC. It will be totally cool. And I'll definitely set my DVR to tape it. If I had a DVR, that is.

OK. I am being totally sarcastic. I apologize if my humor is lost on many of you. Plus, it's no big secret that it's illegal to marry inanimate objects. Obviously. Or else I'd be married to the Filet o'fish sandwich at McDonalds.

As some of you know, I have a love-hate thing with all of that Pinterest business. It overwhelms me. As my sidebar tab for it states, it's "the equivalent of drinking six cups of coffee". Holy stimulation. But I do like me the occasional pinspiration. And I find some of the things quite pinteresting (stealing that word from a fellow blogger who started a Pinterest inspired linky party that I am always too lazy to link up with). But I can only pin for so long. And then I need to come up for air. I am currently on a Pinterst hiatus. I might go back. Maybe tomorrow. I need a good recipe for Christmas Eve dinner. Or you could just save me the extra step, and leave me a comment with your favorite dinner recipe. A reluctant Pinner would be much obliged.

Am I the only one who gets overwhelmed with the Pinterest?

Please tell me I am not.

PS: I am over here today. Go over and say hi. Not very often (ok, maybe never) has anyone let me take the reigns of their blog for the day. That's straight cash, homie. ◦

Pinterest is ruining your marriage

Wild On Wednesday: Neighbors

I am wild on Wednesday for....

I am really tired. I want to go to bed. But I won't shut my peepers until I write a Wild On Wednesday post. Sorry if my lack of zest for life is coming through. It's because I just met my ever so awesome neighbors for a happy hour and had one too many glasses of wine.

This is how it went down:

Neighbor: Hey pretty lady. Want to have some wine?  


Me: Maybe. Are you home?


Neighbor: Yes. Jeremy (neighbor's boyfriend) wants to play with Bobo. 


Me: Ha!! Bobo Big Slice is hungry for some pizza (last time we hung out Bobo stole a slice of pizza right out of Jeremy's mouth). Our place is a freckin' disaster but you can stop over if you want. I have Coors. Classy. 


Neighbor: Nice. Want to go somewhere for happy hour? (clearly my Coors was not classy enough for her)


Me: Sure. Does this mean I have to put pants on? 

And that's how we ended up going to happy hour. I did manage to put pants on. I had pants on when I was texting her (btw), but they weren't happy hour appropriate, but rather my favorite, most comfiest sweatpants from Sport Authority (a lovely Chrissy gift from Jesse last year).

We ended up meeting outside a few minutes later (we live next door to each other), only to find a cab sitting out in front of our house. We thought it was our lucky day, but soon realized it was our other neighbor who had called for it. But that neighbor just so happened to be going to the same place we were going so it worked out perfectly. So off we went, one big Inglewood neighborhood family, sharing a cab to downtown Minneapolis. And we literally were going to the same exact place. George was going to work. And us? We were going to drink a few cocktails (and eat pizza) at George's place of employment. What a coy-inky-dink.

So that's what I am wild about this fine Wednesday evening.

Adult beverages.
Pizza.
Awesome neighbors.
It being not even  being10pm, and me falling asleep while I type this (because I am an old lady).

I love living in Minneapolis. Jesse wants to move to the suburbs. I am afraid that this will eventually happen. I am definitely not so wild about this. But until that day, I will relish in my big city lifestyle, where I can meet up with my awesome neighbors at random for a few beverages (of the adult variety), and then fall into a deep slumber by no later than ten bells (because I am an only lady, remember??)

It is now that time where I bid you a good evening. It is time for bed.

PS: Go check out my girl, Gwensta (that's my gangsta name for Gwen). I played Mad Libs with her recently, and she featured the video of her reading it on her blog today. Of course I found a way to sneak a Betty White reference into the reading. How could I not, right? Speaking of which, did you see that I have on Twitter now? And my profile picture is the crazysexycool Bea Arthur, none other than Betty White's TV BFF circa 1985-1992. Thank you for being a friend. Follow me on Twitter. ◦

Wild On Wednesday: Neighbors

Tweet me?

Hiyo!

I am on Twitter now.

Wanna follow me and stuff?

I promise to litter your tweet box with lots of random and funny musings. If not funny, then for sure random. I do random well.

What? You want an example of the randomness?

If you insist.

Jesse and I had been dating less than a year (note: he could have easily cut me loose after this episode), and one evening while silently riding in the car with him and Gungle Go I blurt out to my then boyfriend, "If I died and you got a new girlfriend I would come back from the dead and haunt you." 

Who says stuff like that???!?

At the that moment my Tourettes-esque statement made complete sense (to me), and was totally appropriate (to me). But this is the look I got from both Jesse and Gungle Go:

Anyone else see this episode of RHONJ where Kathy calls
Theresa coo coo? This season almost made me miss crazy Staub.

And why did this man marry me again? Beats. Me. My guess is he lost a bet. Or my parents paid him very, very well. Or. He truly loves me? Let's go with that because it makes me feel the best about myself.

Back to Twitter.

So far the only peeps I am following are Andy Cohen (I lurv you @bravoandy). My (missing in action, but still beloved) blog friend, Kelly Simon Says (Kelly, where the crap are you?), Gwensta from The Bold Abode (she is currently in the throes of some crazy Christmas Mad Libbin'), and (wait for it....wait for it...) mah husband. Yep. He's on The Twitter. He only twitters about sports and how hot his wife is and stuff. Ie: boring stuff.

I need more awesome Twits. Where mah Twits at?

I don't have a link for my Twitter account. I can't quite figure that out yet. My handle is @crazy_everafter. Is that all you need to follow me? Or else my tweet feed is up in the left hand corner of our blog. See it up there? Kinda proud that I figured out how to put it there (pats self on back). Click on that and I think you can follow me that way. I think?

Later, Twits. See you in Tweetville.

PS-I just found a new blog, and decided to link up with  her party, Tell It All Tuesday @ Love Is...

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Tweet me?

Let's be real, ladies!

Have I told you how much I love all of the new pretty faces around here lately? I do. You're all real swell and super. I think you should stay. Forever. And ever. And ever. Amen.

But one thing.

I notice a lot of you ladies saying that you're twenty something. So that means you're between the ages of 20 and 29, right?

I know. You don't have to tell me I am genius for figuring that one out. (It took me a while)

No, but seriously. How old are you?

For reals.

Twenty-something is so vague. You're not allowed to be vague in your twenties. It's just not right. Your twenties is for being real. Your thirties is when you pull the vague act. I should know. I am almost there. And you're only vague in your thirties because you start losing your mind right around then, and forget when your actual birthday is, so vague is just what happens. Just kidding, my hot thirty something readers. You know you're my favorites. I am married to one you, after all.

So I want to know. What is YOUR real age? And extra bonus points if you tell me your birthday. That way I can send you a birthday card. OK. I won't send you a birthday card. BUT. I might send you this funny birthday video (that is if you tell me your real age):

I hope I have sufficiently creeped you out. But if I haven't, then I could certainly find more creeptastic things for ya. Why? This will be lost on most of you, but the following few sentences should be sang to the tune of Madonna's This Used To Be My Playground: Youtube is my playgroud. Youtube is the place I go. To find lots of creepy stuff. When I am really bored.

PS-I am 28 (and a half). I know what you're thinking. I don't act a day over 12. I get that a lot.

PPS-My in-laws are coming over to our place for Christmas Eve. I told my MIL that I'd have everything but the dessert. I suppose I should clean a bit too. Yikeroos! What's a girl to do? And shutting off all the lights and pretending we're not home is not an option. I already asked my husband and he said no. Lame. Just kidding, Greg and Bette Jo. You know I'd never dream of doing that. Plus, we have some kick ace Chrissy gifts for ya, and I can't wait to bestow them upon you. ◦

Let's be real, ladies!

500

I was just looking through our comments and realized that we hit 500 on Friday. Pop the confetti! Celebrate good times blog comments, come on!

I know that ain't no big thang to most of you crazy blogger babes, but it's a big dealio to this gal. So I thought I'd take a moment to thank everyone who takes the time to stop by these here parts, read my musings, and leave me ego boosting comments. I am not sure why I love blogging. But I do. Perhaps it's because I have a profession that doesn't allow me many opportunities for adult interaction. I guess blogging is my way of reaching out to like minded adults. Other people who enjoy networking, writing, and inspiring others (omg, could I get any sappier??). Plus it cuts down on me rambling incessantly to my poor husband. Goodness knows he gets enough of my yappin' and flappin' as it is.

Let's talk about blog comments for a bit, shall we? Did you know that the ratio of readers to comment leavers is super low? I don't know the exact numbers but I read somewhere that only around around five percent of your readers will leave you a comment. And the rest of those non-comment leavers are just creepy lurkers. And that's a fact.

I sometimes try to act like I am above all the comment stuff by saying, "Oh yeah, I don't care whether you comment on my blog or not. So there." Which is true. Sort of. I enjoy writing, and would probably continue to do so regardless of the feedback, or lack there of. Heck, I have been blogging (again--I used to blog quite regularily from 2005-2007) for fifteen months now, and have just recently started getting a steady flow of readers who also have the cajones to leave comments. It's definitely been fun getting more involved in a community of like minded bloggers. It inspires me to write more, and be more active when reading other people's blogs. As confessed before, receiving comments definitely strokes my blog ego. And it makes me want to stroke other blog egos too, thus (especially since the crazy wedding planning has subsided) I have been way more into reading AND commenting on YOUR blog. Because I love when someone can relate to me, or finds me humorous, or whatevs...I like to return the love when time allows.

For those of you who blog on a regular basis, how often do you comment on other blogs? Do you think you could/should do it more? Do you think you get more readers the more you peruse and comment on other blogs? I certainly think there is lots of truth to that. I have done a few blog hopping linky parties lately. Some are uber cheezy, but that's kinda the blog nature for ya, no? I was never really huge on all that jazz previous to now, but I have embraced it. And it's been so fun connecting with a lot of you that way.

Recently I have had many people respond directly to the comments I leave them via email. I think it's so cool to get a personal response from someone like that, and I want to be able to do this too. But I can't seem to figure that out. Anyone want to tell me?? Is it something I need to enable on the blog, or do most people just not have email addresses attached to their comments? I am completely confused so any help would be greatly appreciated. A special big thanks (again) to previous blog helpers, Ashley from Chickadette and Gwen from The Bold Abode. You both helped me tremendously with figuring out how to make this blog a bit more user friendly. You pretty much rock and you know it!

How many comments have you gotten on your blog since you started? How long have you been blogging? Have you hit the 500 mark yet? 5000???!? Does anyone who reads this blog have more than that? If so I want to shake your hand.

Oh and look who's grandma made it up from Boca Raton just in time for the holiday festivities last night. Lookin' pretty snazzy there, Grams. OK. So that's not my grandma. It's me out with my kickball friends last night. This get up was a HUGE hit. Until I walked into the local VFW, and found myself surrounded by a gaggle of blue hairs. Some of them thought I was their peer. Some of them were highly amused. And a few found me highly offensive. Story of my life.

PS: Suck it, Packer fans. You lost. You lost. You lost, you lost, you lost. And so did the Vikings. Again. ◦

500

Friday Letters

I am linking up with Adventures of Newlyweds for their Friday's Letters series. It's where I write letters to inanimate objects and humans alike. I know. Pretty insane in the membrane.

Dear fourth cup of coffee,


Were you really necessary today? You know you do a number on my bowels and bladder. Enough said.


Dear Sonos,


I like you. You're like my beloved XM radio, but at work. It's pretty nifty having you for my listening pleasure. Currently you are providing me with some classic rock, and a smattering of Christmas tunes. I don't think I will ever get sick of that Mariah Carey song from Love Actually. All I want for Christmas is youuuuu (OK, and maybe a Kindle Fire). And I love me some Wham. Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day.....OK, I will stop blog singing now.


Dearest babies who are in my care for forty-some hours a week,


I love you guys. Did you know we've been hanging out for almost an entire year? Well Jack, we technically didn't see you outside of the womb until the end of May, but you know what I mean. I just made you babes a really fun Christmas present, and I can't wait until it comes in the mail. You have enriched my life tremendously this last year. Ainsley sweets, you and I had a good thing going on for those first six months. And then your brother came along. He was a total game changer. But he makes life so much better. Sometimes you two monkey butts make me never want my own kids. I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings. I really love you so much. It's just that sometimes you're out of control crazy. But then you go and do something precious, and it melts my heart, and makes me want to have like a million of you. Ok. Maybe not a million. But a few would be a'ight by me.


Dear husband of mine,


I like it when you bring me a glass of ice cold water right before bed. You do it now without me tricking you into doing it. Thank you. I like that you take puppies outside for their last potty break of the evening too. And I love laughing at Craig Ferguson with you. I think I like him more than Conan now. Sometimes/pretty much every morning you break wind quite loudly while you're in a deep slumber. I don't know if this is on purpose, or you're just becoming an old man who can't control his butt functions. Either way, next time you do it I may smother you with a pillow. You've been warned. PS-thanks for reading the blog.


Dear Christmas creativity,


You've completely escaped me. I had such grandiose ideas for a Christmas riddled with handcrafted gifts. I was all rip roarin' and ready to go, but then completely lost my creative juices. Urgh. Thank goodness I have like a gazillion wedding pictures to fall back on for last minute gifties. Yep, if you share DNA with either Jesse or I, there is a 99.7% chance that you're going to receive a framed wedding picture of sorts. And you will like it, gosh dammit.


Dear future Lauren,


You are going on an ugly Christmas sweater themed party bus tomorrow night with those kickball friends of yours. Be a good girl. And for the love of Pete (who's Pete?), quit photo bombing every picture that is taken. Seriously though, you have a whole lotta things you need to get done on Sunday, and a horrid hangover is not going to allow these things to get accomplished. On the other hand, you and Jesse are going to try super hard to stop having so much fun after the new year...sooo...what's one last cra-hazy night?


Dear future Lauren (again),


Are you excited that you're going to be working less hours come the first of the year? I am excited for you. It's looking like you'll have around two mornings off a week. Don't feel like a deadbeat about that. You'll still be clockin' around 40 hours a week. But let's still try not to sleep in too late on those mornings off, OK? Remember that membership you have for LA Fitness? Get there, girl. You totally need to start workin' out that butt of yours (unless you want to widen all the doorways you use). And you should also probably use that time to go grocery shopping. You know how much you hate going to the store after work. In fact, you're usually really hungry and cranky after work, thus the probability of you punching someone in the face is much higher. I think it's in your best interest, and the general public's that you go when less people are around. Get what I am saying?

Alright. I am done writing letters. Just need to drop them in the mail, and then I will be off to look for my lost Christmas creativity. It may not be completely lost. I made this today whilst doing farts and crafts with those cute babies this morning. It's actually pretty dorky, but it's one more thing I can do with the 100+ leftover wedding thank yous. Up next? Wallpapering my bathroom with them.

Thanks for taking this pic with your fancy schmancy camera, Mandy. You rock!

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Friday Letters

It's like Christmas or something!

Oh boy, oh boy, oh BOY!!!!! It feels like Christmas has come early for me!!

Remember how I told you that I was guest blogging for another blog? Yep. I am really excited about this. If you can't tell. Please don't take my talking about this insesantly as me bragging. Well it's kind of bragging. But for the most part I am just super humbled that someone else wants to take the time to feature something that was so important to Jesse and I. And in the process, they are also featuring the stellar work of several super talented people.

For those of you who have been following along this past year and more, you know that a huge focal point in 2011 was our dogs was our big fat farm wedding that took place at my parent's home in SE Minnesota. It took tons of blood, sweat, and tears. It was a huge undertaking. It was DIY on crack. But it really was so awesome and worth it (to us).

So please go check out A Northwoods Wedding. The girls who run the show over there do a fabulous job of inspiring brides and grooms, and everyone else who loves the inspiration a unique midwest wedding can provide. They are beginning a 12 Days of Chritmas series that I have had the privilege of being a part of. Today is day one with a feature on a woman who owns a business called The Gown Swap. I should really go check her out, as my dress is sitting in our front coat closet, unwashed (there may or may not be grasshopper guts smooshed in the petticoat of the skirt--eww!), and in desperate need of a new owner.

I am not entirely sure when my post will be featured, but my guess it will be sometime in the next 12 days?? Stay tuned!!

PS-I forgot it was Wild on Wednesday time. Oops. Suffice it to say, I am pretty wild about the above post. ;) ◦

It's like Christmas or something!

Tuesday Musings

These are my thoughts. They are random. Read at your own risk.

It's December. I live in Minnesota. While it has been unseasonably warm these past few days, it is still definitely sock wearing weather. Unfortunately my feet have yet to catch this memo. I am sittin' here staring at my frozen bare toes and notice the faintest bit of toe nail polish on the tips of my each of my big toes. And then I get a closer looksie. Yep. That is the the last remains of the french pedicure I got the day before our wedding. Our wedding that took place at the end of August. Almost four frickin' months ago people. Pure craziness, I tell ya. Well actually it's not entirely crazy. I have freakishly large toenail beds. Nail beds. Those words together always creeped me out a bit. Why can't it be called nail space. Or the nail region. Nail bed? Gross. Whoever was the word maker upper for nail beds needs to be kicked in the shin. But yeah, I have freakishly large toenail regions, and very long toes. They may or may not have an extra joint in them. Gungle Go calls them my tallons. It's true. I can pick up large items with my feets. It's a skill I have honed and perfected over the years. A party trick of sorts.

I will leave you now. With thoughts of me entertaining our house guests with my freakish feet. You're welcome.

PS: I saved you from throwing up all over your computer keyboard by not posting pics of my in-desperate-need-of-some-lovin'-and-or-socks feet. But if you want a picture of my shoe covered feet (along with my husbands), you can see them on the right hand sidebar of this blog. Again, you are most welcome.

And that ends Tuesday's Musings with Lauren. ◦

Tuesday Musings

De-clutter The Crap Initiative

Feeling inspired....

Linked up with
For The Love of Blogs

I have been wanting to get organized since pretty much forever. Or at least since we acquired an abundance of new, fun things from some very generous wedding guests. Jesse and I already had a whole lotta stuff before beginning our happily ever after. Way more than we really need. Want to know how you get a whole lotta more stuff?? Invite 400 people to your wedding. Yikes! We seriously are so very thankful for everything we received. I just wished I was a bit better at keeping everything organized. Us and this stuff share approximately 1100 square feet. Us and this stuff desperately need to learn how live harmoniously in our pea sized palace. Or I may go bat crap crazy. My dear husband may already be there thanks to his clutter queen.

Now. Please do not get me wrong. I do not (I repeat DO NOT) think our wedding gifts are crap. But in order for me to start making room for all the new pretties, I need to start getting rid of the old, which happens to be a lot of crap.

So what do you guys think? Who wants to join the de-clutter the crap initiative come the first of the year? I think I just made that little name up, but I think I like it. I'd really love to hear your ideas. And even if you're a blog reader who doesn't blog, I'd still love to hear your ideas. My (yet to be determined) brilliant idea is to get a few people to write some posts on how they succeed in keeping their lives in order, OR how they hope to at the turn of the new year. Be that with meal planning (I so want to be better at this in order to cut down on our eating out), keeping a family calendar (there are only two humans in our household, but our life is so busy that we often find ourselves on completely different pages), or just keeping a tidy home in general. I want to hear your ideas. And if you blog I'd love to join forces with you so we could blog about this together. And if you don't blog? Well then we'll be sure your organized voice is heard. We could even make this a (wait...for...it...) linky party.

If you want to be a part of this organization madness email me, leave a comment, Facebook me, or tweet me. Wait. Don't tweet me. I don't have Twitter (should I have a Twitter?). I plan to start writing more about this once I hear from YOU. And. If I don't get any interested people then I will be forced to demand that you partake in my de-clutter the crap initiative. OK. I know I can't demand anyone to do anything (unless you're my husband). But I may beg you to partake in this with me. In the words of The Temptations, "I ain't to proud to beg, sweet darlin"

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De-clutter The Crap Initiative

Be Our Guest (Blogger)

It's been pretty quiet here on the home front. It's not because I haven't been writing. Because I soooo have. I want to share with you guys what I am writing about. But I can't. But I want to really, really bad. But I can't.

Is that making you even more curious? Annoyed? Sad, scared, or angry? All of the above?

OK. I will tell you one thing. But that's it. I am writing my very first (drum roll puh-lease) guest blog post. A certain blog that I have enjoyed for the last several months was looking for guest bloggers. I figured, "Hey, I could do that." I got a response soon after sending out my interested email saying, "We'd love to have you!!" or something of the like. And then I started fuh-reaking out. Look what ya gone done did and got yerself into now, Lo (I and my family and close friends call me Lo--nickname of sorts I guess--you can too if ya want). Oy. But the guest post is almost done. Just need to add some pictures. I tried not to ramble. I tried to be funny. I tried to be me. I hope they like it. Eeeeeee. We shall see. Stay tuned for it sometime this month. And if you don't hear about it? Well lets just pretend I never mentioned this, OK?

Another fun blog related thing happened this week. You know how people have those "Grab my/our button" things on their blog. I never really understood how that worked. I am blog dumb sometimes/allthetimes. Well another blogger offered to make me one. So I said, "Yes, yes, yes!" And once again (like the guest blogging gig), after saying yes I had no idea what I was getting myself into. What's a blog button and why in the world would anyone want mine? But I got me one now. And (said in a low man voice--this is for you, Cathy) it's super cute. And then, without even prompting or asking her to, she made me a fancy schmancy blog header too! How awesome sauce is that? Again, me = completely not savvy when it comes to this html blog stuff. So imagine my enthusiasm when another blogger offered to do all this for me. Out of the goodness of her kind heart. Her name is Ashley Marie and she is the Chickadette. I guess I still need to post these pics to Picassa or something so that they can give me an html code. But then I will upload one on my sidebar. And then YOU. You can grab away. If ya want.

Here are the pictures. They aren't going to be this blurry. We had to make them a bit bigger for your viewing pleasure, but generally buttons are quite small so that they can fit on the sidebar of a blog. Which one do you like best?

PS-I am taking the Our Big Fat Farm Wedding off the blog at the first of the year. It will officially be Our Crazy Ever come 2012. As fun as it was, the big fat farm wedding was so 2011. Our Crazy Ever After is our new thang. You'll still be able to reach us through our same url. Pretty simple. http://www.jesseandlauren.com/. 

I could not get the wish out loud tag to upload
properly, so here is the image. Go here to link up
to the party!

This is all part of part of Ashley's Wish {Out Loud} series. I am going to link up as someone who had her wish granted. Make sure to check out Ashley's blog. She is beautiful, has awesome tattoos that remind me of my awesome sister, and is just one of those people that I could see myself being friends with (and sorta already am via the interwebs). And she lives in Georgia. I lived there for like five minutes once so we totally have that in common.

Oh and I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been a part of my fun blog journey this past year. I have been bad at commenting on your blogs this past week. I have been completely consumed and wrapped up in writing that danged guest blog. Sorry. I don't want to get all mushy gushy here, but seriously, thank you so much for coming along for this ride. I know some of my in real life friends don't get my blogging (my husband included most of the time)...well sometimes I don't get why they insist on being so lame...totally kidding. My friends are not lame. Blogging surely isn't for everyone. But for those of you who it is for? Thank you for reading. Thank you for commenting. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Now. I need to get my poop in a group for the day. I have a party to attend with Carla (Hammers and High Heels), hosted by Megan (The NoMi Passenger). Yep. I am totally letting my blog world and real world collide for the afternoon. Christmas blog party time! ◦

Be Our Guest (Blogger)

Wild On Wednesday: Sisters

Can anyone tell what we were dancing to in these pictures?

Two hints.

Rosemary Clooney.

Irving Berlin.

Oh and the movie is also playing on the TV in the background of the pictures.

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Wild On Wednesday: Sisters

Answer my photo question (please?)

I figured this could be a good place to go as a few of the people that frequent this blog are seasoned vets when it comes to photography.

Here are my questions:

I have a lot of pictures I want to print from our wedding. We have purchased and now own the rights to all of the professional photographs. If money was not an issue I would have ordered all of my prints directly from our amazing wedding photographer, but unfortunately, it is not in the budget. Sorry, Emily. I so wish that wasn't the case because your canvas prints are to die for, and would make lovely Christmas gifts for our parents. Sigh.

Enter option B. I want to find a reputable, and affordable place to work with, either online or in person. And I'd like to place my order by early next week so that I can get some things made before Christmas. I am not sure if this is even possible. I would like to make a photo book, have some prints developed (8x10 or smaller), and also have a panoramic print made out of one of the two pictures below. But I can't decide which one I like better.

I have always used Shutterfly, but recently I haven't been too pleased with their results. Who do you use to prints? Any pointers on how to get the best panoramic print?

I appreciate any or all help that you can give me.

Sincerely,

The Queen of Mobile Uploads ◦

Answer my photo question (please?)

Advent(ure) Updates.

Jesse and I have been doing pretty well in keeping up with our new Advent(ure) traditions. Remember, these are all things that we chose to do over the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Much as I imagined, Jesse isn't super keen on all this cheeziness. But he is being a good sport.

So far on the list we have crossed off:

1. Write a letter to each other.
2. Make Fat Linda Bars (our "wedding cake"/my mom's world famous bars).
3. Make puppy treats (recipe here).
4. Make something new or different for dinner, but doing it together (no Totino's pizza rolls!).
5. Pick out a holiday movie on Netflix to watch together (Love Actually? Yes, please!).
6. An ornament exchange. 12.2.11
7. Volunteer with Safe Hands Pet Rescue that day, or plan for another day in the near future.
8. A silly present from AxMan that reminds you of the other person (we love AxMan).
9. Winter walk with puppies around Theodore Wirth Parkway.
10. A random act of kindness toward someone you don't know.
11. A surprise! 12.5.11
12. Working out together (we better do this more than once next month-yikes!)
13. Ice skating (Jesse told me he'd take me since our first date--about dang time!)
14. Make a snow angel.
15. New winter apparel--new socks, mittens, hat, etc.
16. Share half price aps at Applebee's and play Bargo.
17. Frame a silly picture. 12.4.11
18. Write about a Christmas memory.
19. Try a new beer at your favorite bar.
20. Get soggy nachos from the Muddy Pig. 12.3.11
21. Go look at Christmas lights together.
22. Go Christmas shopping.
23. Write a letter to Santa.
24. Play Scrabble.
25. Play Yahtzee 12.1.11

(12.1.11) We kicked off Advent with a rousing game of Yahtzee. It was coupled with a football game on the television so I didn't have much of Jesse's attention. Yet he still managed to beat me. Go figure. I probably should have cheated. My momma always said, "Ya ain't cheatin', ya ain't tryin'!" Actually she never said that. I am a liar. But I did let Bobo roll a round for me.

(12.2.11) Speaking of cheating. It only took us until day two of our new Advent tradition to start bending the rules a bit. We dubbed this "ornament exchange day". Once again, Jesse wasn't super big on participation, but he was present in body, therefore I decided that it would count as day two. But only on a technicality. Ie: He still owes me an ornament. ;) We spent the evening over at Bobby (cousin Bobby, not roommate Bobby) and Kendra's house, where Ken and I were busy whippin' up lots of fun ornamental goodies. I don't want to share too much as I plan to gift many of them, but the following picture is the one that I made for Jesse. Please note that this ornament was made under the influence of red wine and Daniel Tosh.

(12.3.11) The Muddy Pig got our service on Saturday for the first time since our very first date. It's been almost three years, so we thought it was about time we got our butts back there to relive the magic that transpired on January 27, 2009. Jesse was all ready to try something different because the nachos were seriously terrible the first time we shared them. We fondly refer to them as the soggy nachos. But for nostalgic purposes I insisted that we give 'em a whirl again. I am a firm believer that with enough sour cream any plate of nachos can taste good. I guess I was too demure and shy on our first date to order up an extra vat of the creamy goodness, but 31 months of dating, and 3 months of marriage has a tendency to change a girl. I am happy to announce that extra sour cream was all those nachos needed. Round two was delicious. Perhaps we'll go back next month for our three year anniversary.

(12.4.11) Again, I found myself bending the rules a bit. We sorta forgot to cross something off our list yesterday, therefore I had to get creative. Here's a picture to show off our recently framed silly picture, along with this cupboard that is finally complete. Yep. I am the queen of DIY destractions. I start. But I rarely finish in a timely manner. Do you like the J and L? Those were from our wedding. I love that we have all of these fun things from the wedding that we can now incorporate into our home. Same goes for the little bench that I painted and recovered a few weeks before our big day. Wedding decor turned home decor as well. Oh, and the picture I framed was the one in the green frame. It's a copy of the thank you notes that are currently being sent out to our wedding guests (FINALLY DONE!!). I will share the picture once I am certain that everyone has received theirs in the mail. I can tell how excited you are. Please try to contain yourself.

(12.5.11) And now we have come to today's adventure of sorts. The surprise! I am not really sure what I meant when I wrote that, but I figured we'd find something relatively surprising to partake in. Today's surprise was a two part-er. Jesse got to work and found out that he'd be receiving a nice, little bonus just in time for the holidays. Fun surprise! And here's part two: He left to go eat lunch and his car wouldn't start. Not so fun surprise. Oh well. It's at times like this that you're reminded how being an adult isn't always fun and games. And not all surprises are good ones. But thank goodness for father-in-law's who owns every tool imaginable, and for that holiday bonus that made replacing the battery not such a painful hit on our wallet. We're both feeling thankful it was just the battery that needed replacing, and nothing more expensive.

We'll keep you in the loop as we continue our advent(ures). I am sorta surprised we have lasted five days. Think we'll make it all the way through? Are you doing any fun Advent traditions? I want to hear about them!!

I linked up with a bunch of other lovely bloggers over at Life Made Lovely. Go check them out!

 
Oh and here too. Cuz goodness knows I love me some mobile uploads.

Edit (12.8.11) I am linking this blog post up with Mrs. Robinson from My New Wife Life. This isn't technically following her Thriving Love Thursday instructions, but I wanted to show a little linking love for a new blogger, and this post was the closest I could get. Mrs. Robinson is new on the blog scene, as well as a newlywed like me. She really puts it all out there and I have mega respect for that. Go visit her blog. She's good stuff.

(I will add the linky button tonight when I get home from work) ◦

Advent(ure) Updates.